I’m stuck inside on the last day of March waiting for the latest blizzard of our interminable winter and thought I’d update the status of my spring plans given in a post written after the first of the year. Are the series of actions mentioned in that post on track to be completed?

Considering that my health and the relentlessly crappy weather shown above (we have more yet to come), has limited my activities this winter, I think that I have made good progress on multiple fronts. The components, again, are threefold. First, I need to find and prepare locally adapted seed that can be spread over the two latest 20 acre restorations, especially the piece that was seeded last fall. The preparation includes scarifying (abrading the seed coats) of legumes that I will be seeding and stratification (trying to mimic the effect of winter to overcome the natural dormancy of many species by putting them in a moist, cold environment for a period of time). As I type this I have a couple containers in our entry ready to use for that and a big bag of vermiculite to use as the soil substitute. And what of the seed? I have some seed unwittingly saved back from the fall seeding by the unorganized way in which it was labeled and stored. I have also bought about 12 species from our local supplier that were ostensibly purchased from locally gathered seed. I don’t mean to impugn the integrity of the supplier; however, I am not confident they were all gathered from native stands. Rather, they may have been purchased from people gathering from local pollinator plots of unknown provenance. Locally sourced doesn’t have to mean local genetics. My goals will never be furthered by my being overly suspicious, however, and thus I spent a fair amount of money to get some of the “local” seed. Out of twelve species, eleven are from within 70-80 miles of here. The one exception is heath aster (Symphyotricum ericoides) which I could obtain only if I accepted Iowa sourced seed. This will lead to perhaps 15 gallons of seed and vermiculite mix which can be spread over appropriate areas.

One of those appropriate areas, in addition to the 20 acres that were seeded last fall, is a portion of the older restoration which will be burned this spring, the second task I hope to complete. The burn can stand on its own as a management technique, but I hope to achieve even more by taking the opportunity to spread stratified seed over several of the burned acres as an experiment in augmenting diversity. The 60 acres which will be burned includes most of the area with the greatest diversity on the restoration, but there are several acres of mesic soil which are less diverse, primarily filled with the forbs which were purchased for the original CRP seeding. Thus, there are about 15 species of wildflower which at first glance give the appearance of a kick-ass pollinator plot. And so it may be, but I am going to see if I can make it something more. One of my tubs will include the 11-12 species, plus some of my leftover gathered seed. Very few of what is probably 20 species of wildflower are found in the area to be seeded after the fire. My hope is that the the combination of the fire, stratified seed, and perhaps a roller to get the seed down to the ground, will give the seedlings enough of a start to compete with the regrowth, and I will double the number of wildflowers there.

Linda and I recently drove to Nebraska to see the sandhill crane migration and had the opportunity to visit with Chris Helzer of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) at their Platte River Prairies. TNC has restored several thousand acres along the Platte under Chris’ leadership and we had a very enlightening visit with Chris on how to keep the prairies vibrant with grazing, fire and topdressing additional seed. Chris thought my plan reasonable, except that I wouldn’t be able to use the best tool to keep the burn regrowth from outcompeting the new seedlings – cattle – which would graze the grass regrowth. Though it will likely be less effective than grazing, I am afraid I will just line up mowing for the site and accept the results that I get.

The third project, and the one which will get the most attention this spring is the planting of several hundred seedling plugs into areas of existing restoration. I will concentrate on the new seeding where competition will be minimal, but plan to attempt to get new plants into a total of 40-50 acres, including 20-30 acres of restored prairie seeded four years ago. The first step in that process is already occurring in Brookings where Dr. Lora Perkins’ project has started the seeds. I hope to get down there next week to see what has germinated and whether I will have enough seedlings. If not, there is still time to ask if her crew can start more. I am ready to take on more not because I am looking for more work, but because I have some help lined up. My prairie partner Ben’s wife, Kelli, gave up a job to take care of their new baby, but would be willing to be hired to come help on the planting project (and on gathering seed later in the summer). If we assume that she can plant 60 seedlings in a day, which might be optimistic because all the crouching can be hard on one’s knees and ankles, then 6-8 days of work will take care of most of the seedlings. If my young friend Bri can also give me some help we might get to where I only have 200-300 to put in myself, about what I did last spring. The task is starting to look less like a mountain to summit and more like a reasonable hill to climb. Once again, to go all Beatles on you, “I get by with a little help from my friends.”

The picture above shows my task for the rest of the day, mixing several batches of seed with vermiculite which will then be refrigerated to overcome seed dormancy, with the white bags containing various wildflower seeds. It will be nice to feel that I can accomplish something today.